note 86182 added to function.preg-match-all

Here is a way to match everything on the page, performing an action for each match as you go. I had used this idiom in other languages, where its use is customary, but in PHP it seems to be not quite as common. <?php function custom_preg_match_all($pattern, $subject) { $offset = 0; $match_count = 0; while(preg_match($pattern, $subject, $matches, PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE, $offset)) { // Increment counter $match_count++; // Get byte offset and byte length (assuming single byte encoded) $match_start = $matches[0][1]; $match_length = strlen(matches[0][0]); // (Optional) Transform $matches to the format it is usually set as (without PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE set) foreach($matches as $k => $match) $newmatches[$k] = $match[0]; $matches = $new_matches; // Your code here echo "Match number $match_count, at byte offset $match_start, $match_length bytes long: ".$matches[0]."\r\n"; // Update offset to the end of the match $offset = $match_start + $match_length; } return $match_count; } ?> Note that the offsets returned are byte values (not necessarily number of characters) so you'll have to make sure the data is single-byte encoded. (Or have a look at paolo mosna's strByte function on the strlen manual page). I'd be interested to know how this method performs speedwise against using preg_match_all and then recursing through the results. ---- Server IP: 203.88.112.190 Probable Submitter: 58.96.34.67 ---- Manual Page -- http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.preg-match-all.php Edit -- https://master.php.net/note/edit/86182 Del: integrated -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86182/integrated Del: useless -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86182/useless Del: bad code -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86182/bad+code Del: spam -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86182/spam Del: non-english -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86182/non-english Del: in docs -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86182/in+docs Del: other reasons-- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86182 Reject -- https://master.php.net/note/reject/86182 Search -- https://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php